Kitchen shredder for both leafy and stalky vegetables



Feb, 7, H95@ C. R'. DEINARDIS EI'AL.

KITCHEN SHREDDER FOR BOTH LEAFY AND STALKY VEGETABLES Filed Jan. 14, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS coma/U5 R. De man/s.

JAG? J. ALB/IV A mQA EY Feb. 7, 1956 c. R. DE NARDIS ETAL fl fifi KITCHEN SHREDDER FOR BOTH LEAFY AND STALKY VEGETABLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 14, 1947 INVENTORS CORP/[U05 RDe/V/WD/S JACAJ. ALB/N Patented Feb. 7, 1950 KITCHEN SHREDDER FOR BOTH LEAFY AND STALKY VEGETABLES Cornelius R. de Nardis, Elmliurst, and

Jack J. Albin, Far Rockaway,

Application January 14, 1947, Serial No. 721,984 1 Claim. (Cl. 146-177) This invention relates to kitchen utility devices of the type adapted to shred or grate vegetables, including leafy vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce and stalk-type vegetables such as celery and carrots. In the specification and claims the term "grater is used in a broad sense to include shredders; likewise the verb "grate is used in a broad sense to include shredding operations.

One object of this invention is to provide such kitchen utility device which may be used to grate vegetables of all kinds, including bulky leafy vegetables, as well as stalk-type vegetables.

Another object of this invention is to provide such device which while simple in construction, particularly in that it involves relatively few parts and is therefore relatively inexpensive to produce, is sturdy and rugged and has a wide range of use.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description thereof.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated on the drawings, the invention is shown incorporated in a grater driven by an electric motor and the present description will be confined to the present illustrated embodiment of the invention. It will be understood, however, that the novel features and improvements are susceptible to other applications, such for example as a grater or shredder which is driven by other power means or is suitably hand-driven Hence, the scope of this invention is not confined to the embodiment herein described.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and showing, for purposes of exemplification a preferred embodiment of this invention without limiting the claimed invention to such illustrative instances Figure 1 is a plan view of a kitchen utility device embodying this invention and showing the grater unit in operative position;

, Figure 2;

Figure 8 is a horizontal section through the removable chute shown in Figure 2 providingia support for the grater;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary vertical section through the chute of Figure 8 taken in a plane passing through line 9-9 of Figure 8;

go Figure 10 is a fragmentary vertical section corresponding to the section of Figure 9 but showing the grater in position;

Figure 11 is a plan view of one form of grater; Figure 12 is a fragmentary vertical section taken in a plane passing through line l2l2 of Figure 11 and line l2-l2 of Figure 13; and

Figure 13 is a plan view of a modified form' v of grater.

Referring to the drawings in which like parts are indicated by like reference characters, 25 is 1' a casing of cylindrical or other desired shape pro- Figure 2 is a vertical section taken in a plane gear as compared with the showing of Figure 2-;

vided with a base 26, a motor housing 21, a cutaway portion 28 in the front wall thereof, a bearing plate 29 disposed near the top of the casing and a removable top or cover plate 30. The latter plate 30 may be removably secured by bolts 3| threadably engaging threaded openings in the flanges disposed at the top edge of the side walls of casing 25. Leg or other suitable members 32 are secured to the base to provide a support for the device. The base of these legs may have bonded thereto felt or other analogous material to avoid scratching or marring a polished surface on which the device may be placed.

Base plate 26 is provided with a bowl supporting plate 33 which is mounted for rotation in the base plate by ball bearing mounting 34. A bowl 35 is shown disposed on-the plate 33 for rotation therewith.

Motor housing 21 has the casing wall defining this housing provided with ventilation openings 36. Disposed on this casing wall is a power switch 31 of any well known type which controls the energization of motor 38 suitably mounted on a supporting plate 39 extending across the shown is provided with four control points.

namely off and three speeds, low, medium and high indicated by the numbers 1, 2 and 3. Other types of switches may of course be used. Electric current is supplied to motor 38 through a power line cord 40 which may be plugged into any convenient current'source.

Thearmature shaft H of the motor extends through a ball bearing 42 disposed on the bearing plate 29. This shaft extends the full depth of the gear housing 43 into an opening in the re-- movable top plate 30 and terminates flush with this top plate The top of this shaft is provided with a cylindrical opening 44 across which-ex tends a cross pin 45, the function of which will be hereinafter described.

Keyed to armature shaft 4| is a gear 46 with which meshes a gear 41. Both of these gears, it will be noted from Figure 21, for example, lie in a horizontal plane. Gear 41 consists of a horizontal plane. Gear 41 consists of a horizontally extending toothed portion arranged to mesh with the teeth on gear 46 and be driven thereby and a vertically extending skirt 48 defining the central hollow or open portion of this gear. A ball bearing 49 is disposed on the bearing plate 29 supporting the gear 41 for free rotary movement. This ball bearing 49 is positioned adjacent to guide flange 50 formed on the bearing plate 29 to provide a bearing surface for skirt 48 of gear 41. A small clearance is provided between guide flange 58 and the skirt 48 for free movement of skirt 48 relative to flange 50. To prevent leakage of the lubricant lubricating the ball bearing 49 as well as the bearing between flange a and the skirt 48 an annular pan 5! having an upstanding lip 52 is detachably secured, as by screws 53, to the end of skirt 48 as clearly shown in Figure 6.

Instead of having a horizontally disposed ball bearing mounting for the gear 41, as shown in Figure 2. a vertically disposed ball bearing mounting as shown in Figure 4 maybe used. In Figure 4 one-half of a ball bearing race 54 is suitably mounted on a flange 55 integral with the side wall of the casing 25 and the other half 56 of the ball bearing race is mounted on a side wall of gear 41. Thus the gear 41 is supported for rotary movement by the ball bearings 51 in the race 54, 55. Retainer pan 58 is detachably secured to flange 55 to catch any lubricant which may drop from the ball bearing; this pair 58 prevents such lubricant from leaking into the bowl 55 containing the foodstuff.

Skirt 48 ofgear 41 is provided with a longitudinally extending groove 59 (Figure '7) which extends the full length of the interior wall of the gear 41, ie., along the upper portion of the gear as well as along the contiguous skirt 48. Desirably two such grooves are formed along the interior wall of the hollow gear on diametrically opposed sides thereof. Chute 60, desirably cylindrical in shape, has projections ii, of a shape complemental to the shape of grooves 59, disposed on diametrically opposite sides of the outer wall thereof intermediate the top and bottom of the chute as shown in Figure 2. These projections are of a length equal to the length of grooves 59. When assembling the chute with the gears, the chute is moved through the central opening in gear 41 with the projections 5i fitting within the rooves 59 and is thus mounted for rotation with-" in gear 41. The upper portion of this chute 60 is circular opening 53 in top plate 30, the axis of which opening is substantially coaxialwith that of the opening in gear 41 Chute 68 is thereby maintained in desired positioma small clearance i'ree rotation of the chute when gear41 is rotated.

The lower end 84 of the chute desirably terminates just above the bowl 35.

As shown in Figures 8 and 9, the interior of chute .60 is provided withan integral flange 55 I disposed on the side wall thereof approximately midway'between the top and'bottom of the pro-- jections 6| (see Figure 2) so that whenthe chute is in operative position flange 65 is disposed approximately in the same horizontal plane as the bearing plate 29. Flange has rectangular openings 66 desirably positioned at diametrically opposite points as shown in Figure 8 for the reception of rectangular complementary projections 51 depending from the periphery of grater 54. Thus the grater 68 may be locked in position within the chute .by the projections 61 entering the openings 66; the flat peripheral edge portion of the grater or shredder resting on the top edge of the flange as shown in Figure 10. With this construction the stator 68 may be readily removed for cleaning and replaced. or one type grater may readily be replaced by another t'ypeto produce flakes or gratings of any desired size or shape.

The grater 68 may be of any well known type. Figure 11 shows a grater having upstanding cutting edges 69 for engagement with the vegetables centrally disposed relative to the disc I2, having a series of relatively wide cutting members 13 disposed in a circle and having elongated slots 14 through which the'grated particles pass into the chute 60 and thence to the bowl 35.

To maintain the material to be grated in contact with the grater a cover 15 for the upper portion of the chute 60 is provided. The top plate 16 of this cover is of concave shape, has a diameter substantially greater than that of the chute and has a flange 11 normally engaging the plate 30 at a point spaced from the opening 63 forming an annular clearance space 18 surrounding the top end of chute 60. The chute rotates in this space, the cover protecting the operator from 2.0-

cidentally engaging the rotating end of the chute. A cylindrical depending portion 18 centrally disposed with respect to the plate 18 extends downwardly therefrom. This depending portion has a diameter somewhat less-than the diameter of the chute 60 so that when the cover is in position the depending portion 19 fits within the chute. 8ecured to the base of this depending portion is a concave plate provided with teeth or prongs -8l (Figure 2) for engaging the material to be grated.

An opening 82 extends through top Plate 18 of cover 15 as well as through the depending portion 19 and the concave plate 80. The axis of this opening is at an acute angle to the grating surface. It may have a substantiallyelliptical 8 top opening I and inclined side walls l mergin with a bottom opening it of smaller cross=sec tional area than the top opening as shown in Figures 1 and 2. Stalky vegetables, such as carrots or celery, may be fed one or more at a time through this opening, guided by the side walls thereof so that theends are maintained in contact withthe grater, the stalks being pushed through opening 82 by a handle formedto flt this opening. This handle is manipulated by the operator to maintain the-ends of the stalky vegetables in contact with the grater.

- To maintain the cover II in fixed position while the grater is used for grating stalky vegetables a clamping device such as shown in Figures 1 and 5 is employed. This :clamping device-consists of a pair of clamping bolts 81 disposed at diametrically opposed sides of the cover as shown in Figure 1. Each bolt passes through an opening 88 in plate 30, has knurled knob 89 for moving the clamping bolt and a depending portion ,0 on which a spring Si is mounted. This spring is fastened between a collar or washer 82 on the depending portion 90 and the underside of the top plate 80. Each clamping bolt 81 is provided with an extension 93 arranged to bear upon fiat portion 84 of the cover 15. When the clamp is in the position shown in Figures 1 and 5, spring 9! exerts tension on the collar or washer 92 so that the extension 83 clamps the cover to the plate 30. When it is desired to release thecover anaveo the top of chute 80 with the ends of the bolts placed ever-the cabbage so that the teeth an engage thetop of the cabbage. If the size of the cabbage." or other. vegetable is such that it does not readily enter'chute 60 it is first cut into portionssucirthat each portion will fit within the top portion ofthe chute 80 without protruding therefrom. The-operator applies pressure by his or .her hand to the top of the cover plate to maintain the cabbage in contact with the grating surface as the grater is rotated. In the continued operation of the, machine, as the cabbage is consumed the cover 15 descends, more and more of the dependingportion l9 entering within the hute ll. when the cabbage has been substant ally completely grated the cover will have reached the pointwhere the flange "engages plate 30 as shown in Figure 2. Any residual material may be left in the grater to be grated in the by the pressure of his or her hand on the cover l5 opposing this spring action, maintains the material to be grated under the desired pressure to effect the grating. For this purpose, as shown in Figure 1, the cover plate I6 is provided with extensions 95, preferably four in number, suchextensions being equi-spaced about the periphery of the plate 16 as shown in Figure 1. Since the structure of each extension and cooperating bolt and spring housing is the same only one will bedescribed. Threaded into a threaded opening in each extension 95 is a bolt 85 which passes through an opening 91 in the top plate 30. Associated with each of the openings 91 is a spring housing 98 which desirably may be made integral with the outer wall of the casing 25. Each bolt has a reduced end 99 passing through an open ing. in a washer I00. Disposed between this washer and the bottom wall of the spring housing is a compression spring "ii. The spring iii and washer lot are inserted in housing 98 before cover 30 is welded or otherwise fastened in position. The spring and washer are thus maintained within their housing so that they can not be readily removed therefrom, the diameter of.

. through the washers onto the bolts 98 and cover-- 15 in a direction tending to force the cover away from the grating surface. The cover and associated parts, however, are so designed that even though no pressure is applied by the operator to the top of cover 15 the cover is maintained above J5 continued operation on a subsequent charge of material.

when the grater is employed to grate stalky vegetables, as hereinabove described, the cover fl! is locked by means of clamps 81 and the staiky vegetable fed through the opening 82 in the v cover.

Itwill' be noted that the present invention provides a kitchen utility device which may be used to grate vegetables of all kinds, including bulky.

' uses both inhousehold' and industrial kitchens.

Sincediiferent embodiments of the invention could be made-without departing from the scope of this invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted having an opening in the front wall thereof and a motor housing near the back wall, a rotatable bowl supporting plate disposed near the bottom of said opening, a bowl ,on said plate, an electric motor in said housing, a bearing plate extending across said casing near the top thereof, said plate having a circular opening therein, a gear housing the base of which is defined by said bearing plate, a motor shaft extending through said gear housing, a gear fixed to the motor shaft, a second gear meshing with the first-mentioned gear, both of said gears lying in a substantially horizontal plane and being disposed within said gear housing, the second-mentioned gear having a circular opening the axis of which is coaxial with the axis of the gear and with that of the opening in the bearing plate, the wall of said opening in said gear being provided with slots adapted to 7 receive compiemental projections on a chute, a grater in said chute, a cover for said chute, said cover having 9. depending portion extending within said chute and arranged to engage leafy vegetables to maintain them in contact with said grater, a spring mounting for said cover tending to move the cover away from said grater. the operator by applying pressure to said cover, through said depending portion maintaining leafy vegetables to be grated in contact with said grater, means for clamping said cover in a fixed position. said cover having an opening passing therethrough and through said depending portion through which opening a stalky vegetable may be introduced and one end thereof brought into contact with the grater and the said end grated 7 8 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iiie of this P tent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 625,607 Hunt May 23, 1899 931,295 Hagemeyer Aug. 17, 1909 1,251,612 Zanvettor Jan. 1, 1918 1,367,402 Kulakowski Feb. 1, 1921 1,752,160 Eri Mar. 25, 1930 2,011,211 Brown Aug. 13, 1935 2,057,564 Edgerton Oct. 13, 1938 2,131,290 Kochner et a1. Sept. 27, 1988 2,131,377 Kohl Sept. 27, 1938 2,206,204 Richli July 2, 1940 2,208,335 Kurtz July 16, 1940 2,289,958 Grau July 14, 1942 2,368,897 Strauss Feb. 6. 1945 2,409,497

K8890] Oct. 15, 1946 

